SPOTLIGHT
Earl Funk
by Chris Redmon
Earl Funk wanted to draw for as long as he can remember. He started drawing from watching cartoons during his childhood. While growing up, he remembers
the encouragement and excitement from his friends
and parents about his drawings. He had plans to take
art classes in school and college but during his senior
year he got a tattoo and all his plans started to change.
Over the next few months during his senior year of
high school, he started to tattoo at Trinity Tattoo.
Shortly after, in 2011, he began to focus on painting
after trying his hand at spray painting. That inspired
him to really start painting murals and canvases with
all his free time. His spin on pop culture shines through
with one of his most famous characters, Pogo.
He has done a lot of work for Orlando City Soccer
over the past few years such as the “Paint the City
Purple” event where he did the mural for Harry Buffalo. He designed the Orlando City Soccer logo on the
Lynx bus, the Orlando City Soccer TIFO banners, and
painted the custom shovels for the Orlando City Soccer ground-breaking ceremony. He has done work for
Graffiti Junction to the youth center of Hope International Church in Groveland. His murals can be seen
around Orlando and extend into Wynwood. He had
a solo art show at the Grand Opening of Snap! Space
Orlando’s new location on Church Street. He’s also a
featured artist in The Wynwood Colorbook.
In May of 2015, he opened a private tattoo/art studio with his friend and fellow artist Steve Roberts. The
space is called The East and is located in the Ivanhoe
Village. The shop is going great; they have set up the
business in a way that only invites artists who have
a strong clientele to be a part of their shop. Earl believes that is a cornerstone for the type of conductivity
they expect from their artists. He also believes that it
has attracted a more financially sound clientele. Last
year, Earl started to mentor Boy Kong and guide him
through his apprenticeship. Boy Kong will soon become part of the team at The East.
Keep an eye out for a new solo art show by Earl in August over at Redefine Gallery. You can also find him at
the Tampa Bay and Virginia Beach tattoo conventions.
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You can see more at:
TheEastTattoo.com
In Her Drawers, acrylic on wood
www.ARTBORNEMAGAZINE.com